Ink Review: J Herbin "Les Subtiles" Bleue

I purchased the ink reviewed below from Pear Tree Pens as part of an official sample set from J. Herbin. The sample set contains 10ml glass bottles of each of the five inks in the range: Rouge, Bleue, Ambre, Vert, Violette.
The Bleue ink of the “Les Subtiles” range is the blue of the range and is advertised as having a lavender scent.

Scent: Let me first say that it may be that this ink is not consistent in its scent. A couple of people on Fountain Pen Network (if you’re a member, I’m Danisidhe ) have said that they felt the scent was like true lavender and that they quite liked it while others have said that this and the rose and violette had so little scent they could barely smell it. I wish the latter had been the case with this one. The scent that I got was about as far from Lavender as it’s possible to get – in fact it was more like that fake lime cordial scent that some ‘lime’ milkshake syrups have. It was very odd and quite off-putting. I’m actually mildly allergic to Lavender and lavender oil (I get a slight rash) so I’m pretty good at picking it up and I didn’t sense any lavender at all.

Colour: This ink goes down as a sort of a dark, denim blue but dries (eventually, I’m talking at least 3 hours) to be a genuine, English lavender delicate greyish blue with a touch of purple. It’s quite lovely, it’s a terrible pity about the scent.

Conclusion: Great colour if you like a subtle purple but the scent, in my bottle at least, was not lavender and too strong to ignore. The scent was repellent, as with the Ambre ink, but it wasn’t lavender.

Never underestimate a woman who survived.

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